BURLINGTON – Neither team could find an edge through regulation in Tuesday night’s Div. 3 field hockey state semifinal, and the suspense of impending overtime against Dover-Sherborn brought Newburyport senior Delaney Woekel to tears.

But even overwhelmed, that wouldn’t stop her from sending the Clippers to their first state final about 20 minutes later.

Woekel scored her second goal of the game with 7:52 left in double overtime, clinching a 2-1 win for second-seeded Newburyport (21-1) over the No. 3 Raiders (17-3-2). The goal ended a defensive marathon that neither group allowed much within, rewarding the Clippers defense for staving off a five-shot fury from Dover-Sherborn in the first overtime.

Sophomores Riley Lombard (defense) and Cody Saboliauskas (10 saves) were especially clutch leading up to Woekel’s goal.

Newburyport will play the winner of Wednesday’s Watertown/Sandwich matchup in the Div. 3 state final this weekend at WPI.

“We knew that that was what the game was going to be like,” said Clippers second-year head coach Shannon Haley. “Our kids battled, gave it everything they got, and this is the first time that Newburyport field hockey has ever been to a state championship. So we couldn’t be more proud of them.”

“It feels amazing, it’s honestly unreal,” Woekel added. “I am so excited and ready.”

It seemed every critical one-on-one battle all game was won by the last defender on either team, and both units excelled in cutting off lanes in open space.

The only real blemish in Newburyport’s defense came on a third-quarter corner, when Lily Hatfield tipped in a drive for a 1-0 Dover-Sherborn lead. Woekel made sure it wouldn’t matter with her first goal less than two minutes later, though, and the defenses went right back to stopping any major offensive threats until overtime.

Lombard and Katie Conway were crucial on that end for Newburyport, while the Raiders’ corner defense blanked the Clippers on seven chances as Drew Hussar and Alia El-Hilali shined. Goalie Kylie Craig (seven saves) was also nails for Dover-Sherborn when most of the few dicey situations came up.

None of them came in the first overtime with how the Raiders carried play. But after making a few adjustments, it did in the second overtime. Woekel deflected a pass just to the right of Craig as she dropped to her knees well out of the goal, and Woekel finished off the game-winner on the wide-open goal behind Craig.

“I literally was just like, ‘I need to get the ball in the back of the net,’ and that’s all I really thought about,” Woekel said. “Our team works so well together, genuinely every single girl that was on the field. It wasn’t just this goal, it started from the defense from Riley Lombard, up to Ciara (Geraghty) in the midfield, to Rita (Cahalane). Mine was just a part of it, but we all worked together to get that (game-winner).”

She wouldn’t have had the chance if not for a phenomenal effort from the defense in the first overtime, as Dover-Sherborn banged on the door with an onslaught of pressure. But Saboliauskas stood firm on rebound attempts in the five-save frame, and Lombard was relentless in helping clear the rest.

“Dover-Sherborn is an incredible field hockey team, and they played amazing in that overtime,” Haley said. “Credit to our goalie and our defense, they played unbelievable. Riley Lombard saved us in that overtime, and we knew we had attacking speed. We utilized it to score that (final) goal.”

Other action

Danielle Bowers and Autumn Mathews each scored twice as No. 1 Reading (21-1) coasted to a 5-0 win over fourth-seeded Hingham in a Div. 2 state semifinal. … Emily Spadorcia and Morgan Naumann scored with Shea Larkee assisting on both as No. 2 Norwood (20-2) edged No. 3 Somerset Berkley, 2-1.